Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski approved foreign policy adviser Carter Page's trip to Moscow last July on the condition he would not be an official campaign representative, Politico reported.
Before the Russia trip – during which he made a controversial speech at New Economic School in Moscow that criticized U.S. foreign policy and its Russia sanctions – Page asked retired Naval officer J.D. Gordon, his supervisor on the campaign's National Security Advisory Committee, for permission to make the trip, Politico reported.
Gordon told the outlet he strongly advised against it.
However, Page emailed Lewandowski and spokeswoman Hope Hicks asking for formal approval, and was told by Lewandowski he could – but not as an official campaign representative, an unnamed former campaign adviser told Politico.
Page on Tuesday confirmed to USA Today he had the Trump campaign's permission for the trip.
Lewandowski said he did not remember the email exchange, Politico reported, while Hicks declined to comment and a White House official said campaign officials did not discuss Page's planned trip beforehand.
Later in July, Page attended events connected to the 2016 Republican National Convention, along with other members of the national security advisory team. There, both Page and then Sen. Jeff Sessions spoke to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak as part of a program attended by dozens of diplomats, the reports said.
Page stepped down from the campaign last September.
According to Politico, Page confirmed he is one of about a dozen individuals and organizations contacted by the Senate intelligence committee and asked to preserve relevant materials for its investigation into Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election.
"I will do everything in my power to reasonably ensure that all information concerning my activities related to Russia last year is preserved," Page said in a letter to Senators Richard Burr of North Carolina and Mark Warner of Virginia, the panel's ranking Republican and Democrat.
In his letter, Page also denied any wrongdoing and repeated his claims that former officials of Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democrats have been spreading false information about the trip and Page's other connections to Russia, Politico reported.
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